MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia: Calcium antagonist overdose

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Calcium antagonist overdose

Contents of this page:
Definition Poisonous Ingredient Where Found Symptoms Home Care	Before Calling Emergency Poison Control What to Expect at the Emergency Room Outlook (Prognosis)

Definition

This is poisoning from swallowing a large amount of a calcium antagonist, a drug to treat high blood pressure.

Poisonous Ingredient

Any of the following:

Amlodipine
Bepridil
Diltiazem
Felodipine
Isradipine
Nicardipine
Nifedipine
Nimodipine
Verapamil

Note: This list may not be all inclusive.

Where Found

Amlodipine (Norvasc)
Bepridil (Vascor)
Diltiazem (Cardizem, Dilacor)
Felodipine (Plendil)
Isradipine (DynaCirc)
Nicardipine (Cardene)
Nifedipine (Adalat, Procardia)
Nimodipine (Nimotop)
Verapamil (Calan, Isoptin, Verelan)

Note: This list may not be all inclusive.

Symptoms

Weakness
Dizziness
Drowsiness
Confusion
Slurred speech
Nausea
Constipation
Low blood pressure
Slow heartbeat
Irregular heartbeat
Shortness of breath

Home Care

Do not make the person throw up unless told to do so by Poison Control or a health care provider.

Before Calling Emergency

Determine the following information:

Patient's age, weight, and condition
Name of the product (ingredients and strengths if known)
Time it was swallowed
Amount swallowed

Poison Control

The National Poison Control Center (1-800-222-1222) can be called from anywhere in the United States. This national hotline number will let you talk to experts in poisoning. They will give you further instructions.

This is a free and confidential service. All local poison control centers in the U.S. use this national number. You should call if you have any questions about poisoning or poison prevention. It does NOT need to be an emergency. You can call for any reason, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Take the container with you to the hospital, if possible.

See National Poison Control center.

What to Expect at the Emergency Room

The health care provider will measure and monitor the patient's vital signs, including temperature, pulse, breathing rate, and blood pressure.

The patient may receive:

Methods to make the person throw up
Activated charcoal
Laxative
A nasogastric (NG) tube thru the nose into the stomach to empty the stomach (gastric lavage)

Outlook (Prognosis)

Patients usually do not die from this type of overdose, although some deaths have been reported. Patients with heart beat or blood pressure changes usually need to stay in the hospital.

Update Date: 4/4/2006

Updated by: Janeen R. Azare, PhD, MSPH, Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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